Breath (Scales 'n' Spells 2)

Tags

Dragon shifters, mages, fated mates, hurt/comfort, enemies to lovers, not mpreg, interracial couple, road trip, No Flying, nope not even with a dragon, dwarf hunting in Poland, Tori needs allll the hugs, Baldewin is happy to supply them, dragons are ninjas, attempted kidnapping, mages being BAMF, insecurity, trust issues, Tori is an arse, Baldewin is adorable, Cassie is over it, virgin character, but not for long fufufufu, dysfunctional family, family of choice, magical realism, cuuuuudles, the authors regret nothing

“I FOUND ONE!”

Baldewin jumped, sloshing the cup of coffee in his hand as Cassie barreled past him, her straight, electric blue hair bouncing. Normally, the size difference between the two of them alone would have guaranteed Baldewin kept his feet while the mage went sprawling. Normally.

But Cassie had the sort of energy and impact that negated paltry things like physics. She might be a foot shorter than his six feet, but if she hit him, it would be Baldewin picking himself back up.

A dragon’s reflexes were not to be discounted, though. He flattened himself to the wall and spilled only a little bit of coffee on his shirt, all while avoiding her. She sped past him down the broad castle hallway lined with a thick burgundy carpet, her rapid footsteps muffled.

“Found what, Cassie?” he called to her back.

“A mage!” she threw over her shoulder as she continued to run in a blur of black tights and oversized blue hoodie.

Excitement surged in him, and Baldewin took a second to chug his coffee so he could safely chase after her without splashing it everywhere. It meant he didn’t catch up with her until they were almost at Alric’s office.

Cassie’s eagerness drove her straight inside without knocking, which was rather brave. Cameron and King Alric had been mated for only about a month and were still firmly in the honeymoon stage. It was even odds of them either making out—or more—or actually doing official business.

It was on the tip of his tongue to warn her, but she was halfway into the room already. Baldewin prudently gave it a second, ears open for any signs of fumbling, panicked yelps, or the like. None came, so it must be safe for once.

“I found one!” Cassie repeated with utmost satisfaction and enthusiasm.

“You’ve got to narrow that down,” Cameron informed his twin in a teasing tone Baldewin had come to know so well over the past couple of months. “Found what?”

“A mage.”

Baldewin strolled into the king of the Fire Dragon Clan’s office, gaze skipping over the rich, dark wood furniture and bookcases filled with leather-bound tomes, as familiar to him as his own chambers.

Alric and Cameron were seated at one end of the long table that occupied a good chunk of Alric’s office. The king and consort were seated with Warin, one of Alric’s retainers and a damn good fighter. Spreadsheets covered in endless rows of numbers and colorful charts were scattered before them and clutched in their hands.

Oh, right, of course. It was coming up on that time of the year, wasn’t it? Warin always reviewed the castle expenses budget with Alric before fall came.

All three people were watching Cassie, anticipation nearly thrumming in the room. Baldewin shared it whole-heartedly. Five hundred years without a single sign of any magic was four hundred and ninety-nine years too many, in his opinion. Mages meant potential mates, magic, wonder. They’d gone far too long without all three.

He had no idea what it was about this year that’d become the turning point. But more and more mages were appearing, starting with Cameron and apparently snowballing from there. Baldewin didn’t want to question the miracle, just enjoy it. He also wanted more details.

“Found where?” he asked.

“Finland. Took a combination of seeking spells, scrying, and a little Googling, but I found him in Helsinki.” The slender, Korean-American woman was bouncing on the balls of her feet, which were covered in disturbing white bunny slippers with almost dragon-like teeth. “Nestori Taavi is his name.”

Baldewin nearly chuckled when Alric’s eyes crossed a little. “Googling?” Their king was the epitome of grace and composure, but the Noh twins had definitely shaken their handsome king up on more than one occasion with the things that popped out of their mouths.

“He’s got several applications up on various websites, job hunting,” Cassie explained, as smug as a cat with canary feathers dangling out of its mouth.

That made even less sense. “Why would a mage be job hunting? Their job is to be a mage.”

Cassie rolled her big, brown eyes at him. “Dude. He probably doesn’t know dragons still live. And mages outside of a dragon clan, they’re not really all that accepted. The world doesn’t believe in magic anymore. You should have heard the reaction when I told my parents I’d be exclusively a mage from now on. You’d have thought I announced I was doing the hippie thing and smoking weed all day.”